This is a delightful tea! Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for this sample. Although I did not pick up on the soy sauce overtones mentioned in Jacqueline M’s review, I did find it deeply robust and satisfying.

This is a different tea for sure and a keeper. I will have to place an order. It is very smooth. I had it straight up and loved it that way but I also think it could sustain milk and/or sugar and is stalwart enough to be experimented with.

Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for sending me this exquisite sample. When I got it I felt an impulse to save it for just precisely the “right” moment (but not having defined right, I did not know when I would drink it). When I read that today is the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball, I thought “golden monkey!” to myself and promptly steeped this fine tea.
Jacquelin M and others are right when they say “caramel”. It’s full, fresh, brisk, and elegant. What a delightful treat!

Preparation

Thank you so much to ASHMANRA for sending me this tea. I love Lapsangs so I saved this up for a while in order to titillate myself (which is not as obscene as it sounds). It’s delicious!

Warm, naturally sweet, smoky, but not overwhelmingly so, I can understand why it is rated so high. It’s got a level of refinement that I don’t ordinarily associate with a Lapsang. It’s a very nice break from my typical ash-tray tastes in smoky tea.

I personally dislike smoky teas. But I have a friend who loves them. I’ve been reading your posts for a while, and I think your tastes would coincide with his very well. Can you recommend some of your favorite teas (smoky or otherwise)?

Thank you very much to ASHMANRA who sent me this tea. It’s a fantastic blend of three Chinese teas and they work together as if they were in a classically choreographed ballet. The “players” seem to include some Keemun and some Yunnan, I think, although I don’t know. There are tell-tale traces of flower and spice and chocolate plus a little bit of smoke (not enough smoke to scare you away, I promise).

All in all, a very solid and strong morning blend that I’d be happy to wake up to every day. It’s got a great dance of melismatic flavors subtly bowing to each other. You might want to give this a try if you are in The Simple Life’s DAWN detox.

Preparation

My eternal gratitude to ASHMANRA for introducing me to this tea by sending me a beautifully packaged sample.

It has all of the spring-like vegetal qualities of the best green teas, but the spicy quality is the one that most captures and enraptures me. It’s almost as if somebody has grated a touch of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg into this tea. This is the kind of tea that has launched a thousand ships! It’s meditative and wise, if that makes any sense. It’s like the wise uncle of a capricious little Buddha child.

This is not a tea to just slurp up and run with; it’s a tea to gaze at and to swirl around in your mouth, and to sit still and appreciate it.